Learning to Breathe
by Eternal Storm
Summary: As he watched her go, he wondered once again what was wrong with him today. What had changed between them in the past hour? She was still just a filthy mudblood...right? Dramione! NOTE: rating changed to T for light language usage.
1. Chapter 1

**Learning to Breathe  
**-Eternal Storm

Draco Malfoy rushed into Potions class just as the bell rang. Snape gave the boy a disapproving glance, but said nothing.

_Being a Slytherin has its perks_, he thought to himself, smirking. The smirk didn't last long.

The blond haired boy groaned as he looked at the only empty seat in the classroom. Next to Granger. Even better was Potter and Weasel sitting at the desk in front of her. He reluctantly walked towards her and took a seat, not missing the glares sent his way from the three Gryffindors. Hermione didn't bother trying to hide the fact that she scooted her chair as far away as possible.

"Students," Snape droned, distracting Draco from his well practiced frown, "today will be a 'free period' of some sorts. Professor Dumbledore has handed out paperwork for the staff at Hogwarts to fill out by the end of the day, so our study of the Polyjuice Potion will continue tomorrow."

The class cheered noisily. After all, how often did _Snape_ give free periods?

"However," he continued loudly, "there will be _no_ talking. It's a double potions day, so use your time wisely...If you can find nothing to do, I'll be _overjoyed_ to find something for you."

With one last sneer at the now silent students, the Professor sat down at his desk to concentrate on his work.

Well this was just great. A whole double potions day, with absolutely nothing to do, and he was stuck by the mudblood of all people. Just his luck. Speaking of the mudblood...what was she doing? Through the corner of his eye, he watched as she scribbled on a small piece of parchment. Giggling, she folded the note and took the time to glance up at Snape. Seeing he was still heavily distracted, she flicked the note at the table in front of them. The piece of folded paper hit Ron in the back of the head. Grabbing the offended area, he turned to look hatefully at Draco. Draco returned the stare. Hermione cleared her throat and pointed at the note lying on the ground. Ron understood and picked it up, unfolding it for Harry and him to read. After a few moments, the note was tossed back, read by Hermione, and the process was repeated. Draco found this mildly annoying after a few minutes.

"Granger, stop acting like an idiot and find something less annoying to do, would you?"

Hermione looked up at him, surprised. She obviously either wasn't expecting him to speak to her, or forgot he was sitting three feet away. Probably the later, he decided.

The bushy haired girl promptly ignored his comment and continued to scribble on the piece of parchment. What could be so important that she would ignore him? She usually had a halfway decent comeback to throw at him. Curiosity got the best of Draco as he tried to snatch the paper the moment Hermione stopped writing.

"Malfoy!" she hissed quietly, not wanting to catch Snape's attention. She hastily snatched the note back from him.

"What's the matter?" he taunted. "Don't want me to find out about your secret love life with Potter and Weasel?"

She gave him an icy glare, but said nothing. It wasn't the time to fight, in the middle of Snape's classroom. Draco just couldn't have that, now could he?

"So tell me, which one kisses better?" he continued. "Do you have a preference, or do they just take turns with you?"

Hermione's face got beat red. "I don't have a love life with either of them, Malfoy..."

"No? Well it must be Neville, then. How's that going for you?"

"You little ferret!" she growled. "How does my love life concern you? Are you really _that_ interested?"

It was Draco's turn to blush as his mind raced for a decent comeback. None came. Hermione smiled in victory.

"That's what I thought," she grinned, and turned back to her note.

Draco turned away from her to fume. Since when did she win these verbal wars? What had happened? He always had a comeback...So why not this time? How did her love life concern him, she had asked. How did it? Did it concern him at all?

_No, of course not! That's disgusting!_ he thought.

Then...why was it bothering him so much?

He wasn't interested. Not in her, or anyone for that matter. He could have any girl in this school if he wanted to. Relationships weren't a big deal when you had looks, money, and power. He had all three. Anyone he wanted could be his in a heartbeat.

But her? He doubted she would be interested in him. He was a Slytherin, for starters. Not to mention the rivalry going on with him and Potter. Plus, he had always suspected a secret romance between Granger and Weasley. But she has denied that, right?  
_  
Wait a second! Stop it! _he yelled to his mind. _What does it matter if she would want me or not? I don't want her! She's a filthy mudblood, so why would I? She's worthless and will never amount to anything. And downright ugly, now that I think about it!_

But he knew he was lying. She was the smartest witch in their grades, and possibly all of Hogwarts. She could probably outsmart some of the teachers. Heck, she had proved that with all the 'adventures' she and her boyfriends got into. They, with her help, had outsmarted He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on numerous accounts. That was saying something! His own father had fallen victim to the trios might on occasion as well.

Glancing over at the girl next to him, Draco realized the second part of his thoughts, too, were lies. She was not ugly at all. Her hair actually looked sort of tame today, with her soft brown curls hanging beside her face. She had a beautiful skin tone, and pearly white teeth. Draco had to admit, she was not bad looking. True, she had been quite an interesting sight during their first few years, with her bushy brown hair, large teeth, and tiny form, but now...now she was almost breathtaking. Almost.

_Who am I kidding? She's beautiful_, he thought to himself. A moment later his eyes widened in disbelief. _I, Draco Malfoy, just admitted that he thought that a Gryffindor Mudblood was...beautiful? I must be ill!_

The Slytherin was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard snickering from across the room. He quickly jerked his head towards the sound to see Blaise and Pansy sitting together at a desk. They appeared to be having a hard time not laughing...but at what? Following their gaze to in front of the duo, Draco saw Lavender Brown digging through her bag. Suddenly she shrieked, throwing an object into the air. Blaise and Pansy started laughing uncontrollably at this point, not bothering to hide their joy from the prank. The whole class watched in horror as the slimy pink worm landed right on Professor Snape's greasy black hair with a sickening 'splat!'

Ron spoke for the entire class when he muttered a well-timed "Bloody hell..."

Snape sat frozen. To anyone who didn't know him well, it would appear as if he hadn't realized there was a slimy worm on his head. But to anyone who knew him as well as this particular class of Slytherins and Gryffindors did, they could tell they were in for it.

The professor stood up calmly and picked the worm from atop his head. Muttering a spell, it disappeared, probably to one of the many jars of pickled...objects...'decorating' the room. He sat back down and took a deep breath.

"Essay. Polyjuice Potion, step-by-step. This is to be turned in, completed and for a grade, at the end of class."

Hermione raised her hand. "Sir, we haven't even discussed the Polyjuice Potion yet."

"Yeah," Ron added. "And there's only an hour left of class! We can't possibly finish with-"

"Ten points from Gryffindor. Anyone else want to comment?" Snape sneered, pausing. "Good. Get to work."

He went back to his work, doing his best to once again ignore the class of Slytherins and Gryffindors. Once Snape was busy with his work again, Ron turned around to face Hermione.

"I _really_ hate stupid people," he whispered.

Hermione looked at Draco, smiling. "I don't think he likes you very much, Draco."

Draco rolled his eyes and opened his potions text book. He mentally groaned. He was good at potions, but this was ridiculous. Only an hour to write a detailed, step-by-step essay on how to make Polyjuice Potion? It was one of the longest and most difficult potions to make! It took nearly a month to brew properly! And had Hermione called him by his first name? That was a change. He wondered-

_No! There's no time for that kind of thinking! _he reminded himself mentally. He sighed and got to work.

Forty minutes had now passed in silence since Blaise and Pansy's prank. There was only less than half an hour left of class. Every student in the room had been working vigorously the entire time, not wanting to tempt Snape in his bad mood. Draco muttered to himself as he tried to find the next step for the Polyjuice Potion in his text book. What ingredient were you suppose to add on the third week? He knew he had read it before!

From the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione putting away her things. There's no way she was already done with it...Draco still had at least another few inches to write!

"Are you finished already?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

Hermione answered his question with a curt nod and returned to her work of packing up her things. Draco turned back to his work. He growled to himself several minutes later, snapping one of his quills in two in frustration. Hermione raised her brows in question.

"Do you need help?" she asked hesitantly. Draco looked at her and realized two things. One, he was in serious need of some help if he was going to finish this essay in the next fifteen minutes. Two, _Hermione_ had just offered to help _him_. Had that ever happened before?

"Not from a mudblood like yourself, Granger. I'll do just fine on my own."

What? That's not what he wanted to say! Why couldn't he just think before speaking?!

"Fine," answered Hermione.

Draco continued staring at her. _Well that was stupid_, he thought. Now what? There were twelve minutes left now. He was sure he could finish in just a few of those if he knew what the next ingredient was! Hermione knew. He had no doubt of that. But Malfoys did not apologize to mudbloods. There was no way. He had way too big of an ego to do that! Yet he still felt the urge to say something...

"Sorry," he mumbled, barely audible. But Hermione had heard.

"What?"

"I said- uhm...I guess I really could use your help...if you don't mind..."

Hermione stared at him like he had just grown another head. "Uhm...sure," she finally got out. "Where have you gotten to?"

Draco pushed his paper between them. Hermione scooted her chair closer to his, mere inches apart now. Draco's heart started beating faster.

"Oh, you're almost done. You just need to write in that you add fluxweed here, and then it's simple from there..."

Draco hadn't heard her, his mind elsewhere. _What is wrong with me? This is not Malfoy behavior! If my father knew..._

But he suddenly didn't care what his father thought. He didn't care that his long time rival's best friend was sitting right next to him. He didn't see her as that. Why hadn't he noticed _this_ Hermione before? She really was nothing like her two 'best friends' at all!

"Draco?" Hermione asked. He snapped out of his thoughts instantly at the sound of her voice, and let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in.

"Wha-?" he asked confsued, not hearing what she had asked.

"I said, are you okay? You're look like you just ran a marathon!"

Draco struggled again to come up with a comeback. Why was he having such issues speaking to her?

"I-I'm fine. I just erm...forgot to breath..." he stammered after a slight pause. _Forgot to breath?!_ He mentally slapped himself across the face. How stupid was he? Hemione giggled at his awkwardness. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Draco was saved from explaining his 'lack of breathing' to her. Snape cleared his throat, standing in front of their potions table.

"Malfoy, Granger...Detention with Flich tonight. Eight o'clock."

The bell rung, saving them from any more lectures from Snape. The students hastily turned in their papers and fled the room, wanting to be as far away as possible from the cruel potions teacher. Draco followed Hermione out in a daze. Collecting himself outside the door, he felt the need to say something to her. Anything at all, really. Just to prolong their departure.

"Nice going mudbl-...Granger. You got us detention! I had Quidditch practice tonight!"

Hermione gave him a strange look, not missing the switch from 'mudblood' to 'Granger'. Deciding it wasn't worth asking, she rolled her eyes and ran to catch up with Ron and Harry.

As he watched her go, he wondered once again what was wrong with him today. What had changed between them in the past hour? She was still just a filthy mudblood...right? Suddenly, he wasn't so sure...Still, she had just cost him a Quidditch practice for a lousy detention with Filch!

But somehow...a night of detention with Hermione didn't sound all that bad anymore.

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**Hey! So I hope you enjoyed that. A lot of what was said was from one of my friends and me at school (****Semma** on fanfiction). We do some crazy stuff, haha. Like the "I forgot to breath" thing. That was me, during a heart monitoring thing. Apparently my heart beat was suppose to be going down, but due to my lack of breathing, it wasn't...Good times.  


**Well anyways, if you liked this, then you should definitely review. Or...if you didn't like it, review anyways. Tell me what you didn't like. Flames will be used to cook marshmallows! ****This is a ****one-shot unless you want more.** I'll just see what happens. It's up to whoever is reading this if there will be more or not!

**Special thanks to Semma/Jaicey for helping me come up with this! You're not amazing!! **

:)

**Peace out!!**

**-Eternal**


	2. Chapter 2

**Eep! So guess what! If it's not obvious at this point, I'm terribly sorry. You must be Crabbe or Goyle or...Pansy. I'm continuing this fic! I'm going to try and make each chapter 'have an ending' in case I suddenly cease writing, so you guys won't be terribly disappointing and left hanging. So it's a continuous one shot. Fun. :) Anyways, just another chapter with lots of personal jokes thrown in that you may or may not think to be funny. Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to review!**

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Draco violently dropped his bag next to his bed.

(**AN: is it possibly to violently DROP something?...idk, but let's pretend!**)

Detention had not gone over as well as he had hoped. Granger, the bushy haired beast, had promptly ignored him. Not that he had tried to make friendly conversation, mind you, but with how flabbergasted as he was early, combined with his near-kind attitude during potions, he would have thought that she would be groveling at his feet for some attention by now.

"What's your deal?" came an amused voice. Draco glanced over to the owner, Blaise Zabini, sitting on the bed next to his own.

"Nothing. Just getting my nerves picked at by the stupid-" Draco stopped, his tongue pausing at the word. "-the stupid mudblood," he finished hesitantly. He repressed a scream of frustration.

_Yup, there's the guilt,_ he thought, annoyed. Why did that silly _word_ bother him so much now? Retreating from his own thoughts, he looked up to see Zabini's amused face. He seemed to have an I-know-something-you-don't-know look about him.

"What?" Draco snapped, tired of this facial expression war. Blaise only smiled smugly.

"Fine then," the blonde boy replied after getting to response. "Don't tell me. I don't even care."

He paused.

Blaise continued to smirk, but said nothing more.

"Damn it, Zabini, if you have something to say then bloody say it already!"

"Calm it down, mate," the dark boy replied. He was laughing. Draco bit his tongue, as well as restrained himself from jumping the other boy and punching him until the smile was gone. Permanently. "I just find it very...curious...how you and Granger were speaking almost civilly today. I didn't know you had the ability to speak with her."

Draco snorted. "And I didn't know you stalked me in class. Weren't you too distracted with pissing off Snape to be ogling at me during potions?" Blaise rolled his eyes.

"Actually," he said, "I was watching you and the mudblood," Draco inwardly cringed, "when I was busy not doing that essay Snape assigned." Draco simply shook his head and reached down from his sitting spot on his bed, towards his backpack. He was rummaging for a quill and some parchment when Blaise spoke again.

"You fancy her, don't you?" he questioned.

Draco fell off the bed.

"What?!" he screamed, his head and disheveled blonde hair appearing again from the other side of the bed. To say he was offended would be an understatement. "Like hell I do! What is wrong with you? Have you been snogging Pansy again, because I swear you have fewer brain cells, if you think _that_ could _ever_ happen."

"Hey, now. I happen to know that you were giving her looks and acted all flustered around her during the last half of potions. I both saw it myself, _and_ heard the three of them talking in the halls," he retorted. "And I haven't snogged Pansy since last Tuesday when you rejected her again."

"Oh. Well I'm sure those Granger can confuse a smirk and a glare for flirting. It's not like she's ever experienced real flirting anyways. I wouldn't be concerned with her disgusting little fantasies of me." Blaise shrugged, but said nothing. He resumed his previous position on his bed and said nothing more. Draco was fed up with the silence and abruptly stood and left the dormitories. Fifteen minutes later, he found himself at the library.

_Why did I come here?_ he wondered to himself, while he stared at the wooden double doors, trying to decide whether he should enter or not. He didn't have any homework that he planned on completing, nor did he bring any of it with him to begin with. He probably did need to look over the Polyjuice potion a little better before their next test. Before he could decide, his thoughts were interrupted.

"Are you going to stare all day or actually go inside, ferret-boy? I have work to do."

He quickly turned around to be face to face with none other than Hermione Granger herself. In fact, they were face to face a bit too much, a mere foot or so apart. They were caught off guard at the current situation, and held each others gazes for a moment too long. Draco looked down into her brown eyes, Hermione into his surprised gray eyes.

_Brown. A rather dull color,_ Draco mused. Then he realized that several seconds later, he was still a small foot away from her. Hermione cleared her throat uncomfortably, breaking the silent moment. Both teens flushed and took a step backwards. Unfortunately for Draco, his step back was into the swinging library doors, which did not support his weight in the slightest bit. The wind was knocked out of him as his back hit the stone floor forcefully. He gasped loudly, having to regain his breath and composure for the second time that day in front and because of _her_.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked hesitantly, peering over him. Draco groaned, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm just peachy."

Hermione's brows knitted together at his sarcasm, but being the good person she was, she held out a hand for him. He looked at it, and unthinkingly reached out to take it. He stopped quickly, drawing the appendage towards his body again. Hermione groaned in frustration.

"What, ferret? Afraid of your pure-blooded arse getting germs from the mudblood?"

"Well, I was more concerned about my hand that my arse," he replied smoothly and without a second though. He stood up quickly, this time purposely leaning down to where his face far too close. "But we could make arrangements if you want."

_Oh Merlin, now I'm flirting with her!?_ he screamed to his mind.

Hermione looked as appalled as Draco felt, but surprised the Slytherin boy by raising her hand to strike him. Acting on reflexes, he grabbed her hand in his before it could make contact with his face. Hermione only gave him a smug smile.

"A lot of good you did, refusing my help," she smirked, referring to their connected hands. "It appears you have my germs now after all. Hurry along, now, and go skin your hand. Wouldn't want daddy dearest to find out you got mudblood cooties."

Draco, enraged at hearing the word so many times today, and not knowing what to do about his unknown feeling of guilt at using it, Draco jerked the Gryffindor closer. She squeaked in surprise. They were only a few inches away now. His icy glare somehow seemed to be burning into her own shocked eyes. He opened his mouth to tell her to shut up and ran about how infuriating that word was today, when he realized who he was about to say such a thing to. Instead, he said nothing, his mouth open as if to talk, but at a loss for words. Hermione did nothing, too stunned to move or speak.

"Why do you do that?" Draco finally asked. Hermione gave him a questioning look.

"Do what?"

"Why do you call yourself that?"

Hermione looked baffled. "A mudblood?" she asked, and yelped when the pressure on her wrist increased. Draco jerked his hand back, finally aware that he was still holding Hermione's hand. She, too, jerked back, and cradled her hand and wrist protectively. He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay, but paused again. This seemed to be a growing habit of his.

"I don't know. Why do _you_ call me that?" Hermione questioned hatefully, breaking him out of his trance.

Who was she? Why was she doing this to him? Never had he stopped and actually had feelings of _guilt_ from his insults. He was always brought up that Malfoy's were better -- they were rich, well bred, and were always right. But was he? Obviously he was rich and a pureblood, but here stood the smartest witch he knew, a muggleborn. She wasn't rich in wizard terms. She wasn't insanely attractive, though he had come to terms with her not being ugly in the slightest. She was friends with losers and on the light side. Nothing like him. She could still beat him at anything intelligence-wise, yet he was suppose to be better than her? Did her blood make her that much different? Why was it that she always one upped him, if he was suppose to be unconditionally better than her?

She proved wrong his entire upbringing, all in one short day.

"I don't know," he finally answered. Hermione nodded after he didn't continue, seemingly shocked, yet satisfied with his reply.

"Do you...do you want to come work on out potions homework with me?" she asked, hesitantly again.

Draco stared at her, not sure what to say. Draco Malfoy, Slytherin prince, son of Lucius Malfoy whom happened to be Lord Voldemort's right hand mad, and future death eater, was at a loss for words. Again.

"You don't have to," Hermione quickly blurted out. "I didn't mean to be forward, I just knew that you were having troubles with the Polyjuice potion and I figured I could show you a book that explains it in terms of-"

"Sure," Draco interrupted. Hermione looked unsure of whether to smile or not. Befriending the enemy? What to do...

"But only because I was having problems with that essay," he added quickly.

"Of course," Hermione quickly agreed.

She smiled and repressed the urge to comment as Draco began to ramble on about how Hermione may know how to make the Polyjuice potion from the text, but that it was obvious that as he was the better potions maker, she should leave the brewing of such a complicated potion to him.

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**Yay! So that only took a good hour to write, on complete impulse. Awesome. Jaicey will be so proud! **

**And now, it's three in the morning, and I'm going to bed. **

**Please review! **

**:)**

**-EternalStorm**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hullo! So I have fallen in love with this story. Lucky readers, you are. :) So I do hope you enjoy, because I have no idea what I'm about to write! I just wanted to add another chapter. If it's crap I suppose I won't post. If it's not crap...well, you're reading this, aren't you?**

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The Slytherin common room was dark, cold, and nearly empty. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Most of the Slytherin's preferred to keep to themselves anyways, or else be with a group of other Slytherin peers.

Draco was one of the few students left in the vast room, and had been tapping his foot impatiently, thoughtfully, for the last fifteen minutes. He glared at the large clock above the fireplace, whose flames had now been reduced to bright red embers. The clock seemed to mockingly glare right back, having a silver serpent with blood-red eyes wrapped around the circumference of it. The emerald encrusted clock hands told him it was only eight o'clock, curfew being at ten, but most students were either in their dorm rooms or out and about the castle. Crabbe and Goyle sat on the couch across from him, he himself seated in a plush green chair, his elbow on the armrest, chin lazily resting in his palm.

_It's only eight. I have half an hour. There must be _something_ to do for half an hour._

A few more minutes and he stood up. Stretching, yawning, and going the whole nine yards, Draco feigned being tired. Not that he had to have any acting skills to fool his two companions.

"Well, boys," he started, "I think it's time we go to bed." Crabbe dumbly nodded and joined Draco in standing, Goyle rising just a second behind him. They waited for Draco's move, as usual.

"Go on," the blond snapped. "You don't need me to tuck you in." The two larger boys looked confused, more so than usual, at Draco not taking the lead. Instead of questioning him, they slowly made their way down the stairs to the boys dormitories. Draco smiled smugly at their obedience.

Looking around, he concluded that the common room was empty enough to slip out without having to worry about being followed or questioned. He nonchalantly made his way to the exit and stepped into the even colder dungeons. The entrance to the Slytherin common room was a secret door pretending to be a stone wall, until told the password. He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and let out a breath of warm air, surprised that no fog appeared, then proceeded his trek down the many corridors and up the many stairwells. Eventually, he arrived at the Library.

Now he just had to wait.

Waiting, in Draco's situation, was a bad thing. He had been trying to avoid having idle free time all week. And the week before. It was times like the current one when he started thinking about _her_. Oh, how she plagued his thoughts. It was so...so _wrong_. A pureblood and a muggle born, seeing each other like they-

No, not 'seeing each other', because that sounded too close to having a relationship. Conversing at scheduled times and places. Yes, that sounded much better.

He was confused, to say the least. Girls had always come easy to him. But her? She was just so different. She didn't care what he thought about much, until recently, anyways. She was strong, opinionated, brave, and unfortunately the perfect Gryffindor. So why did he care for her at all? Why were they meeting secretly like this, having random chats and doing homework, making excuses every time as to why it was necessary to do so. None of it made any sense!

Draco groaned loudly in frustration, roughly banging the back of his head against the hard wall behind him.

Ouch. Bad choice. Now he was confused _and _had a headache.

"Still thinking about her, mate?"

Draco considered hitting his head harder, maybe accomplishing a coma. Anything to avoid this again.

"Shove off, Zabini."

Blaise only laughed lightly, and joined Draco in leaning coolly against the castle wall.

"Draco, you're going to have to admit that you have some kind of feelings towards her," he tried. "You're about to go mad. People are starting to notice."

Draco scoffed. "I have nothing to admit. And people as in who?"

"As in everyone. Pansy has been whining irritably for the past week and a half about her 'Drakie-Poo' changing, Snape asked me if there was a reason you have been falling asleep and spacing out in Potions, and Crabbe and Goyle...Well, okay, so they haven't really noticed, but they just stand around awkwardly without you to bark orders at them. It's quite sad to watch, actually."

Draco avoided Blaise's gaze, shrugging.

"Even Potter and Weasley have noticed. I heard them talking again during-"

"Do you stalk them or something, or does the Daily Prophet have a daily update of the Golden Trio section, now? Merlin, you're always about what they're saying and their petty reactions to what I do and don't do," Draco threw his hands up in frustration and stalked away from Blaise. The darker boy was right behind him. He grabbed Draco's shoulder, turned him around, and pinned him by the shoulders to the wall in one fluid motion.

"You listen, and listen good," he threatened, narrowing his eyes. "You have changed, and everyone else may not know why, but I do. I'm your best mate, Draco. Just because we're the big bad Slytherins doesn't mean you can't talk to me. You are in complete denial. Something is going on with you and Granger. She may not know it, and you may not admit it, but it's time to stop being a brooding nuisance and do something about it. Got it?" Draco sneered and shoved his friend away. The two boys held the others staring glare for a few seconds before Draco finally cast his eyes downward. He sighed and leaned back against the cold wall again, sinking down to sit against it instead. Blaise smirked triumphantly.

"I don't know what to do. I'm just...frustrated. There's no way I can have...feelings...for_ that_. For her, I mean."

"You know what I think?" Blaise asked, looking confident. Draco shrugged.

"What?"

"I think you just want her, not that you really fancy her."

"What?" Draco repeated. "That's ridiculous. I don't want her. Or fancy her."

"No, really. You're a Malfoy. It's completely and utterly impossible that you fall for a muggleborn. Your father forbids it, and your rebellious side is fighting for control over him and his decision. You're just wanting to make a statement against your father."

Draco looked thoughtful for a few moments. That would explain everything. The constant frustrating thoughts, the secret meetings, the weird feelings. Oh wait, not the weird feelings. But...maybe this theory of Zabini's could actually work! "Yes, well that does rather make sense. You know, that's great news. I'll just take up muggle studies or something to piss off my father. It's a lot more simple, if not more boring, than doing this meeting secretly thing with Granger."

"See? Told you talking would work out. Just find a different way to get under Lucius' skin," Blaise replied, patting Draco on the back a little. They stood, wiping dust off their pants. "Plus, it's not like Granger would be interested in someone like you anyways."

Draco laughed, sending an overconfident smirk towards his friend. "Please, Blaise, don't kid yourself. No girl could resist me, not even Granger."

"I don't know...It is Granger we're talking about here. She's unattainable. To you, at least." He laughed. "Huh. That's another reason you want her -- she doesn't want you! Irony."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but shut it and stared off past his fellow classmate's shoulder. Speaking of irony...it was Granger. Merlin, was it eight thirty already?

"Leave, Blaise," he abruptly demanded in a hushed tone. "She's here."

"What?" Blaise questioned, glancing at the approaching figure. "But I thought you said you weren't going to-"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll talk about this later. Go. Now." He grabbed Blaise and pushed him a bit down the Corridor.

"Jeez. This is the treatment I get for spending quality time with my best friend?" Draco rolled his eyes and returned to the library doors, where Hermione was waiting. His eyes locked with hers, and stayed there as he asked himself again why he was here.

"Hi," she spoke, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. Her look was uncertain, as if she didn't know if a smile was appropriate or not.

"Hullo," he replied. He cleared his throat. "Erm...Let's just go inside."

"Good idea," she replied. "It took ages to convince the boys I had to study in the library for a couple more hours." Draco thought odd of this. Weren't the three of them suppose to be all honest and sincere and whatnot? Was she really...lying to them? For him?

Blaise was wrong.

Hermione could like him. He was an okay guy. Sometimes. When he was alone. Not that it mattered, he reminded himself, since he didn't like her either.

_So why are you here?_

He willed the question to go away.

"I was thinking we could work on Charms homework tonight, since we started a new chapter. I figured we could start with the- Oh, bullocks. I forgot a quill," she recalled regretfully as she glanced at her armload. Draco automatically reached into a pocket of his robe and pulled out one of his own custom quills.

"Here," he stated simply, holding out the feathered object to her. She took it, running her fingers through the silky texture of the feather. It reeked expensive. It even had a tiny little golden 'M' etched into a small numb near the tip.

"Oh...thanks." she replied with a smile. He just shrugged.

Another pause.

"Um, yes. We were going in, now, then?" Hermione said awkwardly, the silence and Draco's piercing stare unnerving her. Draco snapped out of his trance and immediately reached for the door handle, but not before Hermione preformed the same action. They each jerked their appendages back quickly, as if shocked. Hermione's armload fell to the ground during her surprise. She sighed and bent to retrieve them, Draco dumbly and awkwardly standing there, debating whether or not to help. He bit his lip as he decided he should, but was interrupted.

"Oy! Malfoy! What do you think you're doing?"

Hermione gasped and looked up to the owner of the voice. "Oh no..." she mumbled, audible to only Draco.

Draco bit his tongue. He knew what it must look like -- that he was pestering their precious girlfriend and made her drop all of her supplies and books. What _great _timing, they had.

"Well?" Ron demanded, now standing alongside, though slightly in front of Hermione. Potter was helping her gather her things. He sent Draco a glare from below.

"Nothing, Weasley. Go back to your little tower where you belong, and pretend you're a rich little princess for a while," Draco retorted.

"Boys, please. I'm fine. Just go," Hermione pleaded, standing up with one of her books in her arms again. She clutched it tight to her chest and chewed on her bottom lip a little. Draco almost smiled as he noticed her little quirks.

"We aren't leaving you here with this Ferret, 'Mione. Just come back up to the common room with us and do your studying," Ron more demanded than pleaded. "Or ferret-face could just leave," he said, taking a suppose-to-be-threatening step forward. Draco stood at his full height, which was more or less equal to Ron's.

"I'd like to see you try and make me."

Ron's face grew cherry red as his hand formed a fist. He drew back his arm, ready to throw the first punch, before Hermione squeezed between Draco and Ron's tall forms.

"Stop it, Ron!" she yelled into his face. "Draco didn't do anything. He was just leaving." She sent him a pointed glare. He glared back. He was _not_ just leaving. And who was she to try and take over his fights? He could handle himself, especially with those two clowns.

"Hermione, did you just say...Draco?" Ron asked, a confused look on his face.

"Wh...what? No, no of course not," she stammered.

"Then what's this all about?" Harry asked, standing. Tucked under one arm was the rest of Hermione's dropped armload. In the other, though, lying in his palm, was Draco's quill. Hermione's eyes widened as her mind raced for an excuse.

"Er...Well, you see, Dra- Malfoy was walking into the library with me and I- I had lost my quill and he-"

"He was walking in _with_ you?" Ron questioned, an accusing stare etched onto his face.

"Mione," Harry started, feelings of betrayal clearly in his voice and on his face, "you weren't...you know..._meeting_ him here? You wouldn't do that to us, right?"

"I - I...We were just..."

Draco stood dumbfounded as the scene played before him, the only coherent thought running through his mind having four letters and starting with an 'S'.

"I can't believe you!" Ron exploded. "How could you do that to us?"

"Ron," Hermione pleaded, her eyes glossing over with tears. "It's not like that. I didn't-"

"You've been lying to us, too, haven't you? To meet with the Slytherin ferret-face?" he continued. Harry frowned. He knew how worked up Ron could get....

"Ron, give her a chance to speak. I'm sure there's a reason for-"

"I can't believe you! Merlin, Hermione, I _thought_ you were our friend! Then you go and meet up with the likes of - of _this_," Ron went on, gesturing to the blond boy for emphasis -- Draco sneered in response. "You're mental. Absolutely mental."

Hermione opened her mouth as if to say something. Ron glared harshly at her, as Harry stood torn between them. The brunet girl stood to her full height, took a step towards Ron, and slapped him hard across the cheek. Ron stood with his mouth agape, eyes wide, holding the offended area. A small red hand print was beginning to show before Hermione even rounded the corner, eyes spilling over with tears, books and supplies abandoned, along with Draco and her two companions.

Draco stood awkwardly in front of the two Gryffindors, wondering what to do next.

"She...she just slapped me," Ron stated, still holding his cheek. Any other time, Draco would have rolled his eyes and possibly slapped (or punched) the red head again for such a stupid, obvious comment. Now, though, he was far too busy running after Hermione. It wasn't just want. It wasn't teen rebellion against his father. He simply knew that he needed to be there for her.

This time he didn't bother asking why.

* * *

**Oh my goodness! Kind of an ending, kind of a cliff hanger. It could end here if I wanted it to. Or if I were just lazy. I love this writing technique. I so feel no pressure. Love it!**

**Please review! **

**I love you, my readers!  
**

**:)**

**-EternalStorm**


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